Full power at Westermost Rough offshore wind farm

Full power output has been achieved at the Westermost Rough offshore wind, a major renewable energy project located off the UK's east coast.

Westermost Rough is capable of generating up to 210 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to meet the annual electricity demands of well over 150,000 UK homes. It is the first offshore wind farm to make commercial use of the Siemens 6MW wind turbine, with each of the 35 turbines in use taller than the Humber Bridge.

Duncan Clark, Programme Director for Westermost Rough at DONG Energy, said:

“Westermost Rough achieving full power output is a hugely significant moment for the project. This is the first offshore wind farm in the world to use the Siemens 6MW turbines, which is an important step in reducing the cost of energy from offshore wind.

"The offshore construction programme has seen over 900 people employed in dozens of companies, and reaching full power production is a proud moment for all involved and a credit to their skills and hard work.

"The focus for Westermost Rough now is to safely finish final testing and ensure that the entire facility is handed over to the operations team in top condition, so that clean, green energy can continue to be delivered to the UK grid for the expected life of up to 25 years."

Westermost Rough is a joint venture between DONG Energy (50%) and its partners Marubeni Corporation (25%) and the UK Green Investment Bank plc (25%).

Construction of the wind farm is being managed from DONG Energy’s office in the Fish Dock, Grimsby on Britain's east coast, by a team of around 50 people. A permanent home for the wind farm's operations and maintenance team has also been built at the Royal Dock in Grimsby.

Westermost Rough is located 8 kilometres (km) from the Holderness coast, approximately 25km north of Spurn Head at the River Humber estuary. Cables bring the power ashore on the Holderness Coast north of Withernsea and into the national grid at the Westermost Rough onshore substation on Staithes Road, Hedon outside Hull.